In April the IPO launched a new patents service to the public. Since then, we’ve seen a significant increase in usage of the new service, and it’s become the main way that people file patent applications with the IPO.

Since 1 April 2026, the service has seen over:

• 13,000 transactions
• 4,700 patent applications
• 3,000 new users

To put the above figures into context, we’ve received more than twice as many transactions since launch than in the entire period of ‘private beta’, which ran from summer 2025 – March 2026.

So far, we’ve seen approximately three quarters of patent applications coming in via the new service.

Decommissioning legacy services

Over the coming months we’ll begin decommissioning the remaining legacy services. This is an important step, because running two different systems at the same time makes things slower and more complicated for us and our customers.

There will be two main steps in the decommissioning process:

1. We’ll be decommissioning the legacy emailing tool. This means that if you’ve been getting duplicate correspondence, that will stop and you’ll just get correspondence from the new service.

2. We’ll be decommissioning the Web Filing service and will stop accepting patent applications and requests via forms@ipo.gov.uk.

We will not decommission the legacy services until we have contingencies in place in the event that the new service is unavailable. We expect the decommissioning process to be completed no sooner than autumn 2026. We will give advanced notice of the exact dates of at least two months.

The forms@ipo.gov.uk mailbox will continue to be used for queries relating to trade marks and designs.

Service contingency

Ahead of the legacy services being decommissioned, we are reviewing our contingency plans for if the new service becomes temporarily unavailable.

We will share further details once our plans have been finalised and in advance of the legacy services being decommissioned.

Improvements to the patents service

In February we published our roadmap of service improvements. We’ve now published an update showing what we’ve already done since then and what we’re working on next.

Our top priorities that we’re working on now are:

• patent application improvements
  – changes to make it easier to select the correct representative for the account
  – playback application details and documents immediately after submission
  – improvements to the ‘Check your answers’ page to include fee details and to prompt further checks
• respond to an examination improvement - additional documents upload option to allow a response letter in PDF format and an option to add your reference to the response
• improvements to account sign up – changes to introduce a better process for linking your account to your patents when you sign up

Get in touch

If you have any questions about either decommissioning of our legacy services or the new service, contact information@ipo.gov.uk.

Our main contact point for queries on the new service has recently changed to information@ipo.gov.uk. Queries about the new service will now be picked up by a wider group of colleagues, as they were for the legacy services.

You can also find lots of guidance and support on the new service in the following places:

• a detailed guidance page on how to use the new services
• a series of blogs covering key changes and top tips
• a library of demo videos covering different features of the new services

New digital patents services launched: April 2026

The services launched today allow customers to apply for, manage and renew UK patents in one place. This marks the next step in the ‘One IPO’ digital transformation programme which will deliver new digital services for UK intellectual property. The programme will eventually bring patents, trade marks and designs services together under one roof onto a single digital platform.

All of the IPO’s core patents services are now available on the new platform. Trade marks and registered designs will come later.

Overview of new services

In January 2025 we launched the Search for a patent and Check the patent journal services (also known as ‘One IPO Search’), which made information about UK patents simpler and easier for the public to access.

Today the IPO has launched two further patents services.

1. Manage intellectual property

The ‘Manage intellectual property’ service allows patent customers to create their own digital IP account for the first time. The account is the gateway to our other new digital services. Benefits include the ability to:

• search and view the status of your UK patents at any time
• make changes to your patents quickly via digital self-service
• renew patents digitally from your IP account

2. Apply for a patent

The new ‘Apply for a patent’ service is a digital patent application service. Improvements this service offers include:

• complete your application in any order, save drafts and collaborate with colleagues
• view your application details and any updates in your account
• update your application at any time through your account

Accessing new services if I’m not an IP professional

The new services can now be accessed from GOV.UK . The Patents, trade marks, copyright and designs page on GOV.UK contains links to all of IPO’s services. We have updated this section of our website to include information about accessing the new services and creating your account.

Accessing new services as an IP professional

If you are an IP professional (for example, a patent attorney) or work for a company with an in-house IP team, it’s likely we’ve already set up an account for your organisation.

When we set up your organisation’s account, we give one person in each firm access, (they become the account administrator). They are then responsible for inviting other people in the organisation onto the service.

To gain access to the service as an IP professional depends on whether:

• you already have an account, if so, nothing changes – you’re all set
• your organisation has an account but you don’t – ask a colleague for access, you should not create a new account on GOV.UK
• you’re not sure if your organisation has an account yet – email oneiposupport@ipo.gov.uk for advice on next steps, you should not create a new account on GOV.UK

Access for patent renewals professionals

If renewing a patent is the only service you wish to use, you can create an account on GOV.UK. You can do this without having your account being linked

to an organisation. This is because anyone can pay to renew a patent – you don’t have to be the patent owner or their representative.

Changes to existing services

In the future, we will be retiring our existing (‘legacy’) services. During the transition period, you can submit requests to the IPO in the following ways:

1. Apply for, manage or renew patents using our new digital services – this is the simplest and quickest way to work with us.
2. Continue to submit patent applications using our Web Filing service until at least summer 2026. We’ll give you at least three months’ notice before removing it.
3. Continue to submit patent applications via forms@ipo.gov.uk and request an extension of a deadline via pateot@ipo.gov.uk until at least summer 2026. We’ll give you at least three months’ notice before removing these email addresses.
4. Withdraw patent applications via withdraw@ipo.gov.uk and there are no plans to change this.

As a reminder, from 1 April 2026 UK patent applications can no longer be submitted via the European Patent Office’s Electronic Online Filing (eOLF) service. This service stopped receiving technical support from the European Patent Office on 1 January 2026 as part of the decommissioning process.

Guidance and further information

There’s lots of guidance and support available to help you get started with the new services, including:

• updated guidance and forms on GOV.UK to reflect the new services
• a detailed guidance page on how to use the new services
• a series of blogs covering key changes and top tips
• a library of demo videos covering different features of the new services
• weekly training webinars for new users that you can register for now

Next steps

While the public launch of our new patents services is an important milestone, it’s just the beginning. We are committed to continuously improving these services in the weeks, months and years to come and have a dedicated team in place to do this. We have already published a roadmap of planned improvements that we’ll be rolling out over the next 12 months.

Now that the new patents services are available to the public, we will shortly begin phase two of our One IPO transformation programme – new digital services for trade marks.

If you have any questions about our new services, please contact information@ipo.gov.uk.